Sleigh attachment for motor vehicles



\ 1,611,193 I M. A. HEGERLAND smmn ATTACHMENT FOR mom-o vmucws 'Fned Aprii. 16, 1925 Patented Dec. 21, l926.

' UNITE MIKE AUHEGERrLA rTDQ on woo'nvrnrin, wisoonsm,

snnrcn ArrAcHrinnr roit iuoron vnHrotEs; I V

a Application menses .16, 1925; Serial No. 23,494.

V Thisinvention relateslto a' sleigh attach ment adapted to be' readily installed ona standard motor vehicle; providing suitable,

runners bywhich the vehicle may be supported on snow, aridalso driving means adapted toengage the snow and propel the a vehicle therethrough.

It is an object of this invention to pro vide a simplebut highly eflicient sleighl'attachment for standard motor vehicles which,

willgconvert' amotor jvehicleinto an effig, cientlypropelled sleigh, which attachment,

when installed, will not interfere {the driving of the vehicle in the usual'wayon roads uncovered with snow; but which will 5 ,attord' runners 1 and driving mechanism for f avehicle when .theisarne 'is vdriv en ion a road havingany considerable depth of' snow theremover;

' .members are installedfthe motor vehicle wheels and driving members on "the back wheel rigidlyisecured' thereto having their outer ground engaging 'edgesj dlsposed in .circles concentricwiththeperipheral,

edges of the wheels or tires but extending approximately only .to the fellies of said wheels. Thus, when the runners and drivlng 7' may beidriven over the roads without any 1 mechanism and may also be driven through;

interference from the runners or driving heavy; snow, whereupon the "lower portions of the Wheels will sink suificiently .in the snow to permit the runners and driving means'to engage the same and support and? propel-the wheels therethrough.

t It is a further object of sidesof the spokes of the wheels.

These and other objects of he invention I will be apparent from thefollowing descriptijon"1nade in =connection with the accompanying drawings; wherein like notations: refer to similar parts ,throughoutfthe several' views, and in which" Fig. .1 is a plan view of the chassis of a standard Ford automobile-with some parts broken. away and to 7 which thepreferred v form of the invention is" attached; V a

' felliesl of the fro'ntfand rearheels It is a: more specific "object of 1 the" inven-, ti'onto provide suchfla device front-and" rear runners disposed at some distance above I theinormal 'ground engagingfline of the A I heT-invention. a provide grneans for securely lattacfing the front runners and 'driving means totheouter Fig. 2is a side elevation of the same; r Fig-'31s a cross section taken on the line F front elevation of one of the Y I rear outer clampingplatesdetached; I- v.

Fig; his aside elevationpwlthso-me parts 3 broken away; of 'one of the front outer clamping platesdetachedy.

In the drawings, the sleigh attachmentv is Fig.; 6 is a front elevationof 'one of'the' [inner clamping plates detachedg and- 7 is a fragmentary section'taken 011 they line7 7;of,Fig. 6'.

are "indicated by thenumeral 13 and the v by 't bf numerals'll -and"12 r'espectiyely; i Qn 'the outer sides of; the" spokes Y13'o'fv v each of the wheels asprocket shaped clamp in'gjplatef 14' is mountecn carrying a plural-;'

,ity of radiallyvdisposed"arms 1% each 'qf which is slightly wider th'an vand adapted to] ifit over; Onepfth'espOk-es 13. Radi'ally spaced apertures l fare providedjin each of the arms 145*,Utwo of said apertures. being disposed on either side of the spoke V behind" the arm; "Clamping plates' llare also provided with concave-convex centralportions or bosses 14 formingrecesse's inwhich the hubs of the wheels 11 and 12 are seated. 111- p ncrclamping plates, each comprising a pair of'joined semi-annularmembers 1 5, a re dis'-' 'posed'on the inner sides of each of the wheels, fitting around the brake casings.

These inner clamping plates'are provided? with a plurality of radially arranged aper "tures"15 fadapted to-be alined"with ap er tures 14?; on the -outer ;clamping plates.

Plates 14 and 'l5 are securely clamped to-j v gether about thespokes '13 means ofa plurality'of transverse nut-ted bolts 16 which f; passthroughalined apertures 14; and l5F. v

1 The plates 14 on :thefrear' wheels 12 carryrigidly therewith and projecting outwardly shafts 1'7- preferablywof rectangular cross section while'jthe' outerfplates lit on the a front Wheels rigidly carry the transverse horizontal stub sl1a'fts' 18fof circular cross section." V

Runners are eels 19.

'provided' comprising the" I blades 19 ha-ving lupturnedlfront ends and r vided on their bottom sides with the 7 Supporting means f r run'n'ers V 1 l9 are'p'rovide'd'in thefform 0t inverted U slnrped bracketsQJOsecured to the top of the .runners l9 andhaving at their top portions the caps or collars 21 bolted thereto: Two" of these runners are secured .to the stub shafts 18 on the front Wheels, collars QLbeing loosely clamped thereabout. and the v is Washer 22 being secured on-the outerends of shaft 18 by means of nuts 22 which engage the threaded-ends of said-shafts; Another pair of, thes'runners 19' are secured in similar manner to the rear axleS of the inotorf ehicle on the inner sides and adjacent the rear Wheels lQ asbest shown in Fig.1.. The supporting bracketsQO for the runners are ot' such height that the blades 19-Will be disposed some distance from the normal groundengagingline of the-Wheels of the vehicle preferably extending-slightly above the lower peripheraledge of the tellies ,12 ot the-Wheels V V Driving or propelling members are a secured to eaehlof-the rear heels comprislng relatively; narrow. paddle wheels '23 '-having the-central hubs-23 of preferably rectangular cross section, the radialarms 23 1 rigidly carried by Stll;{l1ll*b$ and the dr ving ele.

merits onprojeoting cleats 2= 9 rigidlysecured to. the outer-ends ofarms 23". 1 The hubs 23 fit overthe shattsl'? and obviously'are keyed thereto and secured thereon by means; of the nuts 22ftv which engage the threaded-ends of theshafts 17 The outer' edges-0t the pro i jec-tiflg:cleats-23 lie in thehcircum feren'ce of in-inter-feningposition-when the vehicle -is in V mot-1on a circle concentric? with the-rear. heel and preterably approximately alin'ed" with the outer periphery of .th'e rear fellies 12. Will be {IlOlllCGCl that thee circle in Which said projecting I cleats 23 are inscribed extends slightly below the blade '19. of the-rear runners so that ithese driving elements will engage the vsnowjat the sides of tl'lQvl'GZLl' wheels-12. v A-t'ierod Q lis secured across the front up--; turned portions of. the frontrunners 19 and-a second tierod 25' is secured across the up turned portionsof the rear runners 19 and a 'chain' or other flexible-member. 26 secured at its' -forwerd endto the front axle 9 and having; the two diverging rear portions 26" secured tothefront ends of the-runners, prevents said runners tromsWingi-ng downward I From the above descriptiomthe operation of the device 1s-probably obvious but may ,bebrieflysummarized as follows:

When the attachmentis installed on. a motor -Vehicle, the driving: members -28 w ll;

obviously be rigidly secured tothe spokes-13.

portedlfrom: the runners.

up to the lower side's otthe runners 19. The driving members or paddle Wheels 23 will then project"slightly-below the blades-'19 of the runnersand Will engage the snow at the sides of the rear 'w'heels l2, propelling the vehicle. I r

Itwill be apparent that henthe vehiele is drivenon shard road which is not covered by snow; even though the attachment is Se; cured thereto; neither the" runners .nor. the driving members Wlll engage thegronnd and the vehicle-1n an be driven in the usual :Way

ithout any interterenee trom.the several" parts of the attachment.

'tions of the Wheels sinking into the snow-and The runners aredisposed. sulficiently above the! normal groundlin'e of therwheels to be:

out'otthe Wayof small bumps or stones,

While, of course if P snow-covered roads are traversed, the heelswill readily sink down; to the level of the bottom of ,the. runnersv 19,.

p ermitting. the vehicle togbe; propelled in the manner aboyei described. Thertrontrunners, 7 While supported from the stub. shafts L18,- rigid-1y secured to the spokes. =13 ofthe front I wheels, are pii oted thereon permitting the runners tobe supported therefrom and also.

or collars-2Lwhen. the @Vehioleis' not sup- It Will,;Of--COtl1 SG5 b appa-rentlthatth'e in-' ner-:clamping plates,v comprising th'e twosemi annular. sections 15. may .be'. readily. at-J tached' and oinedtogether about the brake spokes 18.

tachmentx has been invented for standard motor vehicles-capable. of beingreadily at? tached or detached-to the .samehand permib ting the vehlcle to. be. driven in. the usual Wayorer roadswhich arenot. encumbered by snow without interference; from. the attach} ment.

It will also be. seen. that highly letliciient. driving meansh'avebeen provided -.in such-a it 'permittingtheshattsLlS rtoirotate in...the .bear- 7 ings formed eat: the topg'ot the cla1n'ping' caps casings contacting-the inner sides ot'th'e' From the aboye description, it .tv'ill beg-seen i that a. simple but.:highly; eflic'ientxsleigh atdevice adapted tel-engage the snow at the,

"outer sitl esfotthelrear.:wl1eels. when the wheels have sunkintothe snomor incrusta-f tion to a sufiicient depth to permit the ,rehi ole to be supported on the; runners l9.' 1

It will. of course, be. understood that vae;

rious changes insy be inadein .thedOrnmpdetails proportions and arrangement. of parts Without departing tromithe-scope of the invent-ion,. which; generally stated, consists in a device capable .otjcarrying out the objects above stated. such as shown. and delscribed and set forth .inthe appendedcl aims;

What is claimed is z' 1.; The .co'mbinationwith "a motor .yehfiole,

of a sleighattachment. thereforicomprising a.

plurality of runners mounted adjacent the Wheels of said vehicle with their bottom edges disposed ,at some distance above the normal ground engaging line of the Wheels and driving means for each of the back Wheels of said vehicle comprising a member rigidly secured to the outer side of said wheel having circumferentially spaced projecting portions the outer ends of vwhich lie in a'circle extending slightly belowthe lower edge of the runner adjacent said-Wheel.

2. A sleigh attachment for the Wheels-of motor vehicle having in combination a mounting for each wheelg'compnsing a pair of plates elamped'together about the spokes of a wheel and axially alined therewith and an outwardly projecting :pin on'the outer plate, a pair of runners adapted to be ,mounted on the front wheels, a runner mounted on the rear, axle "housing achacent each of said Wheels, and -dr1v1ng meehan1sm-at1 tached to'the mounting on each of therear Wheels comprlslng a frame. having a hub adj aeent runner."

. In testirnon whereofl mysignattire;v

' f g ixiiKri-A HEGERLAND. 

